It's amusing to hear Congress president Sonia Gandhi defend her party's (as opposed to the Government's) decision not to accept the Opposition's demand for the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to inquire into the 2G Spectrum scam. According to Ms Gandhi, the Government "has nothing to hide" and "nothing to fear"; if that be the case, then why is the Congress so fearful of a JPC inquiry? Similar assertions were made when the Bofors scandal came to light. On that occasion, too, Rajiv Gandhi had insisted that there was nothing to hide and nothing to fear as his Government had done nothing wrong. What emerged subsequently is known to all; the exertions of the Congress during UPA1's tenure to save and exonerate Italian middleman Ottavio Quattrocchi who received the Bofors payola and whose proximity to the Congress's first family is no secret are still fresh in public memory. By setting up a JPC with the remit to look into the various aspects of the telecom scam that has caused national outrage and left the public exchequer poorer by Rs 1.76 lakh crore the Congress — or the Government — would not have "undermined the CBI and the PAC", as has been claimed by Ms Gandhi, nor would it have shown disrespect towards the Supreme Court. A JPC inquiry is an independent exercise meant to look at possible lapses and fix political responsibility. It is not a criminal investigation. In any event, it is laughable that the Congress should be suddenly so concerned about upholding the prestige, dignity and independence of the CBI, the PAC and the judiciary: Whenever it has been in power, the party has sought to misuse the CBI, gloss over the PAC's reports and abridge the judiciary's independence. The misuse of CBI to settle political scores and the various affidavits submitted in the Supreme Court by the UPA since 2004 bear out this contention; the PAC's reports have never stirred the conscience of the Congress's leaders. Ms Gandhi's claim, therefore, is devoid of merit.
It is equally laughable that the Congress should mock at the Opposition parties, especially the BJP, for daring to point out corruption in the Government it heads. The Congress's 'high command' is meant to manage the party's affairs and image, not those of others. Critics would suggest that Ms Gandhi's fulmination at Monday's CPP meeting amount to the proverbial pot desperately looking for a kettle to call it black. It's neither here nor there. The issue is not who else is corrupt, but that the Congress stands accused of massive corruption under its watch; the "wise leadership" of the Prime Minister, of which Ms Gandhi has waxed eloquent, has till now failed to prevent the loot of the nation, best exemplified by Mr A Raja's brazen thievery. Not to concede the Opposition's demand is a political decision; in its wisdom, such as it is, the Congress has decided to brazen it out, regardless of the mounting perception that the party has a lot to 'hide' and much to 'fear'. Yet, Ms Gandhi has chosen to admonish the Opposition for 'politicising' corruption and making a political issue out of the scandals that taint the UPA. The Congress cannot arrogate to itself the right to decide what can and cannot figure on the political agenda of parties that do not subscribe to its unscrupulous conduct of public affairs. The Opposition is not there to pander to the Congress or be mindful of its susceptibilities and vulnerablities. If the Congress finds this discomfiting, it has only itself to blame. The UPA Government's blunders cannot become the burden of the Opposition.
